"Laura, wake up." Laura slowly opened her eyes as she heard Crystal's voice. "C'mon, I know it's early, but I know you want to go with me to see N'Tek." Laura bolted up after hearing this. "Ok, I'm going. Give me 20 minutes." Laura gathered up her things and headed for the guest bathroom across the hallway from her temporary bedroom.
Crystal, realizing that she might be late, called Berto to ask a small favor. "Hey, could I get you to do a favor for me Berto?" "Uh, probably not. What is it?" "Do it anyway. Could you tell Rachel that I might be a few minutes late? I have to wait for Laura before I can bring her in." Berto hesitated for a moment. "Oh, you're bringing Laura with you?" He was kinda shocked that she would do that without talking to Josh, but oh well, what could he do? "Yeah, I thought I'd bring her in and show her around, and the tonight, we're going to look at houses for her. Besides, I'm sure Max won't mind seeing her again." "Max?" Berto couldn't figure out why she would say Max rather than Josh. "Uh, yeah, Josh always switches into Max mode when he's at work. Duh." "Oh yeah. Okay, I'll tell her and warn Max. Oh, wait. Rachel isn't here right now; she's out getting some coffee or something. I'm not totally sure, but she said she'd be back soon. So I don't think it's a big deal if you're late. I'll warn Max." "Bye Berto, thanks."
They hung up just as Laura walked downstairs. "Ready when you are." Crystal grabbed her small black purse and keys. They both walked out the door and toward her new car. It took only a few minutes to arrive at the massive complex that many N'Tek agents called home. Berto had called ahead and asked Jefferson Smith to give clearance to Laura, so that the guards would allow her in. The two girls entered without problem, and walked into the computer room that Berto typically inhabited.
After a few minutes of showing Laura around the controls, Berto hit a button and began to speak while Crystal explained to Laura that he was using the bio-link communicator. Max walked into the room less than a minute after being told that Laura had arrived. He wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as he entered the room. "Hi Laura. Glad you could make it. Uh, why don't I give you the grand tour?" She smiled and agreed. "Hey Max,"
Crystal shouted after him. "Meet me back here at noon, k?" He nodded and walked away with his left arm around Laura's waist. "So, Rachel's still not back yet, huh? Weird, she's usually little miss punctual. Oh well, so what are you working on now?" Berto nodded as she spoke of Rachel, Crystal was right, she was usually on time. "Well, I thought I'd try to increase the range on some of our smaller weapons. You know, the ones that everyone carries in their utility belts. The only problem is trying to keep their current, convenient, size." Crystal offered to help, and they worked until 12 when Max and Laura entered the room again. "Hey you two. What are you up to? Did you miss us?" Laura said as she and Max walked back into the room. Crystal smiled, but didn't respond to Laura, she was making the final adjustment to one of their standard issue weapons.
"Hey, so, where did you two end up?" "Well, Max showed me around the entire building, and gave me a better explanation of why he is the way he is." Max cut her off; he hated to do it, but was a bit confused. "Sorry Laura, but Berto, have you seen Rachel anywhere? I haven't seen her yet this morning and we've usually done our morning briefing by now."
Crystal stopped working and turned toward Max. "We haven't seen her yet, she called Berto to say that she was leaving to get coffee, but that was before Laura and I left my house this morning. That's weird, she's usually so picky about everyone being on time." The news hit everyone but Laura as being very strange. The gang tried not to dwell on the subject; after all, Rachel Leeds was an N'Tek agent. Besides, they had all told her that she needed to loosen up, they couldn't freak out when she finally did relax a bit.
"So guys, I was thinking that maybe we could find Kat, call Pete, and all go out to lunch. What do you all think?" Laura asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Berto picked up the phone to call Pete. Max took Laura by the hand and walked out of the room, presumably to find Kat. Pete's mother answered the phone when Berto finally got through. "Hello Mrs. Costas. Could I please speak to Pete?" She yelled through the house and Pete walked into the room.
He took the phone and made the mistake of assuming that the caller was Josh. "Hey Josh, sup?" "Uh, you got the wrong guy Pete. Don't assume, you always make such an ass of yourself." "Oops, hey Berto, what's up?" Berto explained that Laura was at N'Tek for the day and wanted him to go to lunch with them. Pete agreed, and said he'd be at the main gate in ten minutes. Berto got off of the phone and told Crystal the news. Moments later Laura re-entered the room with Max and Kat in tow. "So, is Pete coming?" She asked as she took her jacket back from Max. "Yeah, he'll be here in ten minutes."
When Pete arrived, everyone was at the gate waiting. They knew that all six of them couldn't safely cram into Shadow, so Crystal volunteered Kat to go with Pete. She ended up getting a dirty look from both, which confused her a bit. She had no clue that Kat had been confronted with some confusing feelings about Pete, she just felt that the two would make a cute couple, and had always been a bit of a matchmaker. She and Berto sat in the back of the car.
"Baby, can I try driving? I'll be careful." "I'm sure you would be, but it's not totally my car, so I can't let you unless we're back at N'Tek. I'm sorry Laura. I trust you and your driving skills, believe me. How about later today, I let you drive? You know, when we're back there, and I can't be killed for doing it." She agreed, and let him drive. The large group decided that they were all in the mood for Tacos. Especially Laura, who had been stuck on that ship for so long, she had nearly forgotten what tacos tasted like.
They spent the next hour eating and talking. Mostly, the conversation consisted of Laura asking questions about N'Tek, and everyone else trying to find the best way to explain the complicated answers. "I wonder if Rachel ever made it back to the office?" Crystal said, looking at Josh. "Who knows, maybe she called dad and asked for the day off. If she did, I doubt she'd call to let any of us know." Berto had a hard time believing that. "No way hermano, your dad would have let us know, you know he tries to keep us all posted on stuff like that." Josh began to agree with him, until Crystal cut in. "You mean like he kept you posted on me coming in to help you out. He doesn't tell you everything." "True." Berto knew that he was stuck.
The group left the restaurant at a little after 1, and went back to N'Tek. When they arrived, Kat asked Pete if he wanted to stay for a while, and he agreed.
Josh switched back into Max mode shortly after entering the main gate. "Max, you said you'd teach me how to drive this car, let's go." "Man Laura, you really don't waste time do you? Oh ok, I need to go inside for a few minutes though. Go ahead and stay here, I'll be back in five minutes. I just want to talk to dad real quick." Max walked with Berto into the building, while Crystal stayed to keep Laura company. Pete walked into N'Tek with Kat a minute later, and asked to see some of the training programs; Max had only shown him a few. She took him in, and put him into one of their basic training scenarios.
He held his own, but Kat felt that he wasn't ready for the more difficult scenes, at least not until she taught him a few of her moves.
Max came back to Laura a few minutes later, after talking to his dad about her request, and getting his approval on allowing her to test-drive Shadow.
"Hey, he says letting you drive is cool, as long as I'm with you, so let's get movin'!" Crystal left and went to locate everyone, since they had all ditched her a few minutes before. She found Berto just where she expected to find him. He was in the main control room, tapping away at the main computer. "Anything interesting yet?" "AH! Oh, don't do that. I hate when you sneak into the room like that."
Berto looked upset, but started to laugh about halfway through his comment. "Nothing really." Max and everyone else returned to the room later that day, and all of them talked until Rachel finally arrived back at the office. Little did they know the day that the agent had endured.
Crystal, realizing that she might be late, called Berto to ask a small favor. "Hey, could I get you to do a favor for me Berto?" "Uh, probably not. What is it?" "Do it anyway. Could you tell Rachel that I might be a few minutes late? I have to wait for Laura before I can bring her in." Berto hesitated for a moment. "Oh, you're bringing Laura with you?" He was kinda shocked that she would do that without talking to Josh, but oh well, what could he do? "Yeah, I thought I'd bring her in and show her around, and the tonight, we're going to look at houses for her. Besides, I'm sure Max won't mind seeing her again." "Max?" Berto couldn't figure out why she would say Max rather than Josh. "Uh, yeah, Josh always switches into Max mode when he's at work. Duh." "Oh yeah. Okay, I'll tell her and warn Max. Oh, wait. Rachel isn't here right now; she's out getting some coffee or something. I'm not totally sure, but she said she'd be back soon. So I don't think it's a big deal if you're late. I'll warn Max." "Bye Berto, thanks."
They hung up just as Laura walked downstairs. "Ready when you are." Crystal grabbed her small black purse and keys. They both walked out the door and toward her new car. It took only a few minutes to arrive at the massive complex that many N'Tek agents called home. Berto had called ahead and asked Jefferson Smith to give clearance to Laura, so that the guards would allow her in. The two girls entered without problem, and walked into the computer room that Berto typically inhabited.
After a few minutes of showing Laura around the controls, Berto hit a button and began to speak while Crystal explained to Laura that he was using the bio-link communicator. Max walked into the room less than a minute after being told that Laura had arrived. He wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as he entered the room. "Hi Laura. Glad you could make it. Uh, why don't I give you the grand tour?" She smiled and agreed. "Hey Max,"
Crystal shouted after him. "Meet me back here at noon, k?" He nodded and walked away with his left arm around Laura's waist. "So, Rachel's still not back yet, huh? Weird, she's usually little miss punctual. Oh well, so what are you working on now?" Berto nodded as she spoke of Rachel, Crystal was right, she was usually on time. "Well, I thought I'd try to increase the range on some of our smaller weapons. You know, the ones that everyone carries in their utility belts. The only problem is trying to keep their current, convenient, size." Crystal offered to help, and they worked until 12 when Max and Laura entered the room again. "Hey you two. What are you up to? Did you miss us?" Laura said as she and Max walked back into the room. Crystal smiled, but didn't respond to Laura, she was making the final adjustment to one of their standard issue weapons.
"Hey, so, where did you two end up?" "Well, Max showed me around the entire building, and gave me a better explanation of why he is the way he is." Max cut her off; he hated to do it, but was a bit confused. "Sorry Laura, but Berto, have you seen Rachel anywhere? I haven't seen her yet this morning and we've usually done our morning briefing by now."
Crystal stopped working and turned toward Max. "We haven't seen her yet, she called Berto to say that she was leaving to get coffee, but that was before Laura and I left my house this morning. That's weird, she's usually so picky about everyone being on time." The news hit everyone but Laura as being very strange. The gang tried not to dwell on the subject; after all, Rachel Leeds was an N'Tek agent. Besides, they had all told her that she needed to loosen up, they couldn't freak out when she finally did relax a bit.
"So guys, I was thinking that maybe we could find Kat, call Pete, and all go out to lunch. What do you all think?" Laura asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Berto picked up the phone to call Pete. Max took Laura by the hand and walked out of the room, presumably to find Kat. Pete's mother answered the phone when Berto finally got through. "Hello Mrs. Costas. Could I please speak to Pete?" She yelled through the house and Pete walked into the room.
He took the phone and made the mistake of assuming that the caller was Josh. "Hey Josh, sup?" "Uh, you got the wrong guy Pete. Don't assume, you always make such an ass of yourself." "Oops, hey Berto, what's up?" Berto explained that Laura was at N'Tek for the day and wanted him to go to lunch with them. Pete agreed, and said he'd be at the main gate in ten minutes. Berto got off of the phone and told Crystal the news. Moments later Laura re-entered the room with Max and Kat in tow. "So, is Pete coming?" She asked as she took her jacket back from Max. "Yeah, he'll be here in ten minutes."
When Pete arrived, everyone was at the gate waiting. They knew that all six of them couldn't safely cram into Shadow, so Crystal volunteered Kat to go with Pete. She ended up getting a dirty look from both, which confused her a bit. She had no clue that Kat had been confronted with some confusing feelings about Pete, she just felt that the two would make a cute couple, and had always been a bit of a matchmaker. She and Berto sat in the back of the car.
"Baby, can I try driving? I'll be careful." "I'm sure you would be, but it's not totally my car, so I can't let you unless we're back at N'Tek. I'm sorry Laura. I trust you and your driving skills, believe me. How about later today, I let you drive? You know, when we're back there, and I can't be killed for doing it." She agreed, and let him drive. The large group decided that they were all in the mood for Tacos. Especially Laura, who had been stuck on that ship for so long, she had nearly forgotten what tacos tasted like.
They spent the next hour eating and talking. Mostly, the conversation consisted of Laura asking questions about N'Tek, and everyone else trying to find the best way to explain the complicated answers. "I wonder if Rachel ever made it back to the office?" Crystal said, looking at Josh. "Who knows, maybe she called dad and asked for the day off. If she did, I doubt she'd call to let any of us know." Berto had a hard time believing that. "No way hermano, your dad would have let us know, you know he tries to keep us all posted on stuff like that." Josh began to agree with him, until Crystal cut in. "You mean like he kept you posted on me coming in to help you out. He doesn't tell you everything." "True." Berto knew that he was stuck.
The group left the restaurant at a little after 1, and went back to N'Tek. When they arrived, Kat asked Pete if he wanted to stay for a while, and he agreed.
Josh switched back into Max mode shortly after entering the main gate. "Max, you said you'd teach me how to drive this car, let's go." "Man Laura, you really don't waste time do you? Oh ok, I need to go inside for a few minutes though. Go ahead and stay here, I'll be back in five minutes. I just want to talk to dad real quick." Max walked with Berto into the building, while Crystal stayed to keep Laura company. Pete walked into N'Tek with Kat a minute later, and asked to see some of the training programs; Max had only shown him a few. She took him in, and put him into one of their basic training scenarios.
He held his own, but Kat felt that he wasn't ready for the more difficult scenes, at least not until she taught him a few of her moves.
Max came back to Laura a few minutes later, after talking to his dad about her request, and getting his approval on allowing her to test-drive Shadow.
"Hey, he says letting you drive is cool, as long as I'm with you, so let's get movin'!" Crystal left and went to locate everyone, since they had all ditched her a few minutes before. She found Berto just where she expected to find him. He was in the main control room, tapping away at the main computer. "Anything interesting yet?" "AH! Oh, don't do that. I hate when you sneak into the room like that."
Berto looked upset, but started to laugh about halfway through his comment. "Nothing really." Max and everyone else returned to the room later that day, and all of them talked until Rachel finally arrived back at the office. Little did they know the day that the agent had endured.